2385 Time Trait.

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On Friday I got a Covid booster, basically on a whim, because it’s sweeping through Kansas & my family has had dealing there many times recently. I have enough comorbidities that if I get Covid without some protection it will probably kill me. So, with caution in mind, I got a booster while in walmart. My arm was a bit sore when I went to sleep that night but I was basically fine. When I woke up I was barely able to get off the floor. I sort of expected that since I was already vaccinated the booster wouldn’t do much to me, but I was SO WRONG. It knocked me on my ass & I stayed down for most of the day. By 5 PM is was able to get up and feed myself and dad, although all I could manage was soup. It felt like my head was filled with something. I had a headache at the base of my skull, which is not something I’ve experienced before. I also had a fever on and off all day. When I went to sleep I wasn’t sure what direction things were going to go.
Upon waking I quickly realized I was mostly fine, but my shoulders and back hurt something fierce. Bad enough that my breath would catch as it pulsed. After a few hours it had reduced down to being mostly focused on my left side, which was the side of the injection site. Eventually it was just my left shoulder and back, then mostly a spot on my back between my left shoulder blade and spine. A spot that felt like it was being knifed over and over for hours. Asprin helped a bit but I had to stagger it. I timed it so I could take one right before starting this page and I mistimed it just a bit because right before I took the pill the spot suddenly started hurting so much I had to lay down for a bit. Luckily the asprin kicked in quickly enough that I was able to get the page finished up. A bit late but within the realm of my ever more regular lateness. Godwilling I’ll be fine by tomorrow and I won’t have this stabbing pain to deal with.

I have no idea why I’m the only one in my family that has such a strong reaction to these vaccines. My mom was basically unaffected. She drove for 6 hours with no issues. Meanwhile I was laying on the floor like a punk. It wasted one and a half days essentially. But that’s better than 2 to 3 weeks or longer with actual covid, or more likely it just killing me. Since the vaccine makes me feel like I’m going to die it seems logical that the straight Cove will just take me out. So I guess I’m going to go through this every few months till forever. Next time I’m going to plan in advance though.

Speaking of planning in advance, you should plan in advance to support the comic via patreon or subscribestar. Or if those don’t work then by god I’ll find a way to take your money. I feel like I’m gonna need it before this covid thing finally blows over in the next ten to fifteen years…

23 Comments

I’ve met plenty of people who have had all kinds of reactions to the vaccines we have available over here. I’ve also met unvaccinated people who got covid and wither as if they’d aged a few decades due to long-haul symptoms. Then I’ve seen some unvaxxed die drowning in their own blood. And it wasn’t quick or painless either.

The vaccines, possible side effects included, are very much worth it. Thanks for adding your voice to this ever-constant reminder, Jackie.

On a less somber note, these last couple comics have been great. I like your writing most when you’re doing these kinds of deep exploration of characters, of who they are and what makes them tick. You just have this natural aptitude to making it feel both significant and natural at the same time. Although the times when you’re just writing whimiscal banter are so good too! Thanks for giving us these joys, in all the forms they take.

From what I’ve read about having bigger effects on the second or third shot, is possible that you got vaccinated, THEN you actually were exposed (probably delta given the time frame) and your body fought it off due to vaccine. Now that you got your booster, it’s like the same thing coming around again, but the booster is a massive load compared to what actually would infect you in the wild, AND. Your body recognized it, and recognized there was a *lot*.

This is why I’m told some people have huge reactions like yours on a later shot when they did not on the first time or two around. Your body recognition is working, and thankfully this should mean that your immune system is going to benefit greatly from it (as opposed to other immuno compromised people who do not get as much protection from a vaccine).

Ack. This is looking a little bit like Reggie’s insecurities are leading him to self-sabotage.

He puts on a front, but the guy doesn’t have a high opinion of himself. Saw elements of that based on how flippant he was about his Dad caring about what he’d done finding the hidden basement.

:(

Does kind of look that way, doesn’t it? Got to feel for the guy; he’s not the catastrophic asshole we once believed he was.

Got my booster today. Didn’t have any side-effects other than a sore arm for the first two, so crossing fingers this one will also go easy on me. I ended up getting a shot and a half, though. Some defect with the first syringe meant some leaked out, so I got another just in case. Lucky me …

Spousal ValdVin and I are already boosted, and not a week too soon, especially as she is immunocompromised.

I would not like to have to choose between spending more time with Alex tonight, or being punctual to work the next morning. I know which way I’d be leaning.

I had just gotten my booster on thursday…and it floored me for almost two days! The very first shot…just had a sore arm for a day…the second shot…the next day half way through i realized i felt sick…this booster?! Two days of feeling like i had a feaver and could barely move. Got the flu shot at the same time so maybe that had something to do with it but ive never had an adverse reaction to the flu shot but jeeeeeeeeese creeeesy that was rough!

I know a few people who have been poleaxed by every shot, both Pfizer and Moderna. I’ve had 3 shots of Pfizer and have had nothing worse than lethargy the day after injection and overall low-level muscle soreness that resolved over about 3 days. I had a flu shot along with the booster. I am early geezerage (late 60s), generally healthy, but have a history of bronchitis and other respiratory infections (none recent) so some risk from that.

My wife and kids had Pfizer, all boosted as well, no problems at all. I had Moderna ( no reason other than that’s what was in stock when I went ) and boosters, second Moderna made me feel like I’d been run over by a truck – took me out of action for 2 days. Booster felt like a mild dose of shingles. But I’ve known other Moderna-jabbed people who had no problems. So many variables, your own system and overall health, what you might have been infected with already without knowing, the brand you get, etc. Still better than dying…

After my first Moderna shot, my arm was a little sore for a couple of days. After the second, I woke up tired and achy. I went to work anyway. By the end of the day, my everything hurt and I just barely managed to drag myself home. But after a hot shower and about twelve hours in bed, I was mostly over it. On the upside, it all but eliminated the possibility of ending up dead or in the hospital with a tube down my throat, so I’m still gonna call it the lesser evil.

From what I’ve seen, boosters tend to hit harder on average than initial vaccine doses. If anything I would guess the immune system is reacting more strongly because it already “knows” about the virus. It can also vary wildly how strongly people react to the vaccine, but it doesn’t last long either way.

I would hold off on any more boosters for a while… what people don’t understand or won’t understand is that drugs do have a rebound affect. The more you take it the more that affect can happen. It’s like playing Russian roulette. The vaccine was an experimental drug that we still don’t know what the long term effects will be. Before anyone says “but covid…” keep in mind that only 2% who got it actually died. That means that other factors were involved and half the time it was poor medical care. Western doctors like to medicate first and ask questions never.

If you want to take the vaccine go for it but just be ready for any consequences from it. Genetics, environment, diet, and any meds your currently on can have an impact on what side effects you will experience. The more I read about the vaccine more I realize that we have been talked into the largest drug trial in human existence. If you feel pressured into taking it start asking questions.

I became symptomatic the DAY I was due to get my booster at the VA. This has been the longest I’ve ever been laid up from a disease since contracting hemorrhagic fever during a long FTX in Korea.

I don’t even want to think about how bad it would have hit me if I’d not been vaccinated.

I came down with Covid (we *think* it was covid) shortly after my booster shot. Probably got infected tgdvday of tge shot or a few days before. A mild case — I lived to self-isolate without medicsl intervention.

Sorry to hear about your booster experience, but I think you are doing the right thing. If you are feeling too cheerful you can look at the underpublished items about long covid, like the one where it was so bad the girl committed suicide after a year of not being able to go to the bathroom or read unassisted, and the doctors reluctantly deciding, well, it might be related to covid after all and sending her a long covid treatment approval that arrived in the mail 2 days after her death.
Don’t like those odds, especially since doctors around the world say whether symptomatic or not, 30-50% of folks who get covid have *detectable* LC symptoms afterward. Not my kind of gambling odds….

Oh yeah, I had a Pfizer covid shot set and 4 months after the 2nd shot,participated in a 4th wall neutralizing antibody test to determine how much covid protection my system had. Had gone down from 92% to just under 50% for fighting off covid infection. I was trying to figure out a way to legally get a booster up to the DAY I got a booster appointment. Got it the 1st day I could and with /omigod/omicron out here in Cali I am really glad of it.

It looks like, with the “Omnicron” variant, that the COVID panic is over. It’s so virulent that it’s taking over all the other variants, but the symptoms are so light that they’re basically those of a bad cold or the seasonal flu.

So when will the restrictions get lifted?

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